Posted in Denver, Grapevine, News, Politics on May 16th, 2008 No Comments »
By necessity practical and by philosophy stern, these folk were not beautiful in their sins. Erring as all mortals must, they were forced by their rigid code to seek concealment above all else; so that they came to use less and less taste in what they concealed. —H.P. Lovecraft Though Denver is not geographically in [...]
Posted in Grapevine, Media, News, Photos on May 15th, 2008 No Comments »
On Monday morning we crowded into the Galley for a Safety Meeting. There we were told to practice various precautions against fire, and then watched twenty minutes of videos where we saw the old Chapel burn down and also the old Heavy Shop. Curiously, an hour after that, more or less, the Smurf Shack at [...]
Posted in News on Apr 27th, 2008 3 Comments »
Beginning Winfly 2008 Participants must bring their own supply of these items to Antarctica: Long underwear (Mid- and heavy-weight long underwear will be provided only to those working outdoors.) Water bottle Non-prescription sunglasses Neck gaiter Wool socks Update: A bunch of streetlights in McMurdo have been shut down to save on energy costs. It will [...]
Posted in News, Politics on Apr 14th, 2008 No Comments »
On the matter of NSF potentially canceling the August Winfly flights without regard for present employee contracts ending in August, Denver HR wrote (last week): For employees that choose to leave on the flight next week, they are choosing to resign and therefore will not get their summer or extended season bonuses per the Terms [...]
Posted in News, Politics on Apr 9th, 2008 No Comments »
“As always, our focus in these efforts continues to be providing world class support to ensure the US Antarctic Program succeeds in executing the vital mission of productive scientific achievements on the Antarctic Continent.” -RPSC Program Director Recently NSF has discovered that it needs to shave a maximum of $10 $30 million from the USAP [...]
Posted in Grapevine, News on Feb 27th, 2008 3 Comments »
This is old news, but I’ve been trying to sort through the gossip, as there are a variety of stories milling around. When the Nathaniel B. Palmer, a science research vessel, (and, notably, a dry ship), docked at the Ice Pier in McMurdo a few weeks ago, the captain went on a bender and raged [...]
Posted in Media, News, Popular Antarctica on Feb 19th, 2008 No Comments »
“Gigantism is very common in Antarctic waters…We have collected huge worms, giant crustaceans and sea spiders the size of dinner plates.” (Washington Post)
Posted in Grapevine, Media, News, Photos, Politics on Feb 16th, 2008 No Comments »
Here’s a photo of a New Zealand P-3 surveillance plane that landed at one of McMurdo’s runways last month. I did not publish this earlier because one of my Bureau Chiefs suggested that if I wait, I would be assisting the Kiwis getting the jump on those wily Japanese whalers and/or Patagonian Toothfish poachers. (Go [...]
Posted in News on Feb 16th, 2008 1 Comment »
Posted in Grapevine, Media, News on Dec 28th, 2007 5 Comments »
A South Pole plumber punched a full-timer, breaking his jaw, forcing the full-timer’s medevac to Christchurch on Christmas Day. A Polie reports that the full-timer was “wasted beyond belief” and “was just fucking with the wrong guy too many times”. Even though there have been a few other fights resulting in firings this season, and [...]
